Radio frequency components or blocks, such as mixers and analog baseband circuits, introduce a significant DC level in the signal path of direct conversion radio receivers, necessitating DC-offset compensation to cancel the self-imposed DC change from the signal. Prior art solutions passed the received signal through a high pass filter (HPF) prior to an analog-to-digital converter (ADCs) to prevent reduction of the dynamic range of the ADC. Such prior art high pass filters employed a low cut-off frequency (fc) so as not to distort the signal spectrum. For instance, in wideband code division multiplex access (WCDMA) frequency division duplex (FDD), the low frequency cutoff removes about one percent of the bandwidth (i.e.: 10–20 kHz). The remaining portion of the self-imposed DC offset is removed from the signal with additional high pass filters, if necessary.
A self-imposed DC offset may be added to the signal whenever the gain or some other parameter at baseband is modified, the load or the bias current of a mixer is changed, the low noise amplifier (LNA) is switched on or off, or the state of any other component along the signal chain is modified. However, existing methods and apparatus to compensate for self-imposed DC offset suffer in either speed or accuracy. For example, a receiver employing digital modulation of gain control or other parameters introduces a risk of high transient signals at the baseband processing. Those transient signals can deteriorate reception at the radio receiver, such as by saturating the receiver, undermining synchronization, etc. Specifically, download conversion mixers and the first blocks of analog baseband circuitry are susceptible to cause such reception degradation. Prior art solutions employing a high pass filter with a high cutoff frequency may quickly remove the majority of the DC offset, but the resulting voltage typically remains variable within an insufficiently narrow band for an inordinate period of time. Conversely, prior art solutions employing a high pass filter with a low cut off frequency may settle at a stabilized voltage more quickly, but take much longer to remove the majority of the DC offset.
Compactness and low power consumption are important considerations in cellular phone design. Analog DC-compensators typically require large-scale capacitors that occupy an inordinately large circuit area. Additionally, such capacitors sometimes draw excessive power from the cellular phone battery. This invention is directed toward providing a method and apparatus to compensate for self-imposed DC offset that reduces or eliminates at least some of the above identified drawbacks in the prior art.